Cigarette lighter



Jan. 27, 1953 1.. 1'. WARD CIGARETTE LIGHTER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 1

Filed March 10, 1951 III IT II IN V EN TOR.

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2 8 Lawrence T. Wu rd Y E N R o w A Jan. 27, 1953 T. WARD 2,626,517

CIGARETTE LIGHTER Filed March 10, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 58 3 5 K i 55 QSW 6l' I l4 a i I u 31 INVENTOR.

Lowren e 1'. 0rd BY 2 Z l2 ATTORNEY Jan. 27, 1953 WARD 2,626,517

CIGARETTE LIGHTER Filed March 10, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Mu r y 1 AJNVENTOR.

1 4O 39 38 5 5 Y 4 \2 Lovvre ce T Word BY 44L. 9-- v M W17 H66 ATTORNEYPatented Jan. 27, 1953 UNITED STATESE- ATENT OFFICE CIGARETTE LIGHTERLawrence T. Ward, East Orange, N. J. I

Application March 10, 1951, SerialNo. 214,950

3 Claims. E

This invention relates to a cigarette lighter, and more particularly, toa lighter of the type having a replaceable tank for containing the fuelin the form of an inflammable hydrocarbon gas under pressure.

Lighters of this type are usually provided with a valve on the tankadapted to be actuated so as to release the inflammable gas, the latterthen being ignited by means of a spark-emitting mechanism so as toprovide a flame. In the prior art these gas lighters comprised anactuating member adapted to be pressed by the hand of the operator so asto actuate the valve and release the fuel gas and also a separate meansfor actuating the spark-emitting mechanism, the latter usually being inthe form of a conventional thumb wheel for rotating a flint wheelagainst a flint. It was thus necessary to resort to the manualmanipulation of two separate members in order to produce a flame. Morespecifically, the forefinger of the operator first pressed a member toactuate the valve and releas the inflammable gas after which the thumbwa employed to rotate the flint wheel and thereby ignite the discharginggas.

This necessity for actuating two separate and independent members inorder to produce a flame has numerous disadvantages. Since exhaustion ofthe inflammable gas within the tank requires that the latter be replacedwith a new tank at considerable expense, it will be obvious that it isof the utmost im ortance to prolon the useful life of the tank as longas possible before replacement becomes necessary. Of course. mostsmokers who use a gas type lighter do not take great care to operate thevalve actuatin member and the flint wheel simultaneously so that usuallya time lag occurs between the instant the gas is emitted from the val eand the instant when this emitted gas is i nited by act ating the flintwheel. The gas emitted during this time lag inter al is wasted and theuseful life of the tank is thereb considerably reduced.

A further disadvantage of providing a senarate means for actuating thevalve independent of the means for emitting the s ark resides in theobvious inconvenience and difiiculty of operation of the lighter sinceit is somewhat awkward for the user to actuate the valve with one fingerwhile rotating the flint wheel with another finger.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to eliminatethe above-noted disadvantages of prior art gas lighters by means of anovel construction whereby the operation of a single actuating membercauses the actuation of. the valve simultaneously with the actuationofthe spark-emitting mechanism. That is, by means of the presentinvention, a flame is instantly produced by pressing merely a singleactuating member, thereby providing not only increased ease of operationbut also eliminating wastage of. gas which occurs in the prior art gaslighters wherein two independent actuating members must be manipulatedto produce a flame.

Another. disadvantage of the prior art lighters resides in the largefinger pressure that must be exerted in order to rotate the conventionalthumb wheel to which the flint wheel is attached. This disadvantage isobviated in the present invention since the energy for rotating. theflintwheel is provided by and stored within a spring, the energy beingreleased and the flint wheel rotated by a simple light pressure on theactuating memher. This energy is manually supplied to the spring withrelatively little efiort by merely closing the lighter cover. Much lessforce is needed to close the lighter cover than is required to rotate aconventional thumb flint wheel since the cover has a torque arm manytimes larger than the radius of the usual thumb wheel.

A further advantage of the present invention resides in the lack ofdanger of accidental lighting should the lighter be dropped. This is dueto the fact that release of the actuating member immediatelyextinguishes the flame, the latter continuing only so long as theactuating member is continually pressed, and it is highly improbablethat the lighter could fall into a positionwhere the actuating member.might be continuously depressed.

Another obiect of the present invention is to provide a novel economicalstructure for the valve actuating mechanism which enables the tank to bequickly and easily inserted into or removed from the outer case.Furthermore, the flint assembly is so constructed as to provide a simpleeffective locking mechanism for retaining the tank in assembled posit onwithin the outer case.

The prior art gas lighters have another serious defect which iseliminated by the present invention. It will be obvious that as theinflammable fuel gas within the tank continues to be discharged, the gaspressure within the tank will be lowered in proportion to the amount ofgas used up. Since the rate of discharge of the gas through the valve isproportionate to'the gas pressure within the tank, it will be seen thatthe flame produced by the lighter will continue to become smaller andweaker as the gas within the tank continues to be exhausted. In thepresent invention a novel means is provided for adjustably varying thevelocity of the gas through the valve and hence the size and strength ofthe flame. That is, when the gas pressure within the tank gets low thisnovel means may be adjusted so as to produce a large strong flamenotwithstanding the low gas pressure.

Other advantages of the invention are inherent in the structure asclaimed and disclosed in the specification and in the drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a cigarette lighter embodyingthe present invention, the parts being shown in normal relation beforeactuation;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the upper portion of thelighter with the parts shown in the positions they assume after thelighter has been actuated and while the flame continues;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing the relativepositions of the Parts as the tank is inserted into the case;

Figure 4 is a vert cal sectional view taken along line 44 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 55 of Figure3;

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional iew through the valve assembly andtaken substantially on the line 6-6 of Figure 1;

Figure '7 is a perspective view showing the manner of manually holdingand manipulating the lighter so as to produce a flame, and

Figure 8 is a perspective view showing the manner of inserting orremoving the tank with respect to the case.

Referring now to the drawing, the cigarette lighter comprises generallyan outer case H, a gas tank I within the case M and provided with avalve assembly indicated generally at l3, an actuating member M foractuating the valve assembly |3 when depressed, a cover plate l5 ivotedto the top of the case and a sparkemittin mechanism comprising a flintwheel l6 and a flint 1.

In more detail. the tank 2 is preferably in the form of a casting havinga pair of side walls I8, I9 and end walls 20, 2|, 22 integral with a topwall 23. The lower edges of the walls 20, 2| are provided withhorizontal flanges 24. 25 around which extend the upturned edges 26, 2'!of a bottom plate 28.

The top wall 23 of the tank I2 is provided with a downwardly dependinglug portion 28 which serves as a housing for the valve assembly lit. Thelug portion 28 is provided with a vertically extending recess 30 ofsubstantially cylindrical form within which a valve stem 3| is slidablymounted for vertical movement. As best seen in Figure 6, the lower endof the valve stem 3| has an enlarged head portion 32, the latter havinga cylindrical exterior surface slidably engaging the interior wallsurface of the recess 30. The lower end of the head portion 32 isprovided with a recess 33 having mounted therein a valve seat member 34formed of resilient material such as neoprene. The bottom of the recess30 is provided with an upstanding projecting portion 35. A channel 36 ofrelatively small diameter extends vertically from the top surface of theprojecting portion 35 down to the bottom wall 31 where it communicateswith the interior of the tank I 2.

The lug portion I3 is further provided with a substantiallysemi-spherical concave recess 38 which extends across and communicateswith the vertical channel 36. As shown in Figure 6, the right-hand endof the semi-spherical recess 38 extends slightly to the right of theright-hand wall of the channel 36. The left-hand end of thesemi-spherical recess 38 leads into a cylindrical recess 39 ofsubstantially equal diameter as the recess 38. The recess 39 in turncommunicates with a somewhat larger cylindrical opening 40 which in turncommunicates with an internally threaded aperture 4| leading to theexterior wall surface of the tank l2. A screw 42 is threadedly engagedwithin the threaded aperture 4| and is provided at its inner end with areduced shank portion 43. A resilient sealing washer 44 is mountedwithin the annular space between the reduced shank portion 43 and thecylindrical recess 40.

The inner end of the reduced shank portion 43 is provided with arecessed conical shape as at 45 so as to receive and abut against a,spherical ball 46 extending within the semi-spherical recess 38. A sheetof mesh material, such as a metal or fiber cloth or screen 4'! iscompressed against the surface of the concave recess 38 by the ball 46.

It will be seen that the lower portion 36' of the channel 36communicates at its lower end with the interior end of the tank l2 andat its upper end with the space between the ball 46 and the surface ofthe concave recess 38, the ball 46 being held spaced from said surfaceof the recess 38 by the mesh screen 41. The upper portion 36" of thechannel 36 communicates at its lower end with said space between theball 36 and surface of the recess 38 and at its upper end with theinterior of the recess 30. It will thus be seen that as the gas isdischarged from the interior of the tank |2 it flows upwardly throughchannel portion 36', through the space between the ball 46 and thesurface of recess 38 and then upwardly through the channel portion 36into the reces 30.

The relatively narrow space between the ball 46 and the surface ofrecess 38 acts as a constriction throttling the flow of discharging gas.The rate of discharge of the gas may be varied by changing the size ofthis constriction; that is, by varying the space between the ball 46 andthe surface of recess 38. This space may be varied by rotating thepressure djusting screw 42 so as to exert more or less pressure on theball 46 tending to move the latter toward or away from the surface ofthe recess 38.

The upper end of the recess 38 is enlarged at 48 so as to receive awasher 49 which is secured therein. The lower portion of the valve stem3| is provided with one or more washers 5a which have outer peripheriesin slidable sealing engagement with the interior wall surface of recess38. A coil spring 5| extends around the valve stem 3|, the upper end ofthe spring 5| abutting against washer 49 and its lower end abuttingagainst washer 50. The spring 5| is under compression and tends to urgethe valve stem 3| downwardly so as to maintain the valve seat member 34in abutment with the top of the projection 35, thereby sealing oil theupper end of the channel 36 as shown in Figure 1.

The valve stem 3| is provided with an axial longitudinally-extendingchannel 52 communicating with the atmosphere at its upper discharge end.The lower end of the channel 52 communicates with an angularly extendingchannel 53 which in turn communicates with the interior of the recess33. It will thus be seen that when the valve stem 3| is in the raisedposition shown in adapted to ccact with the lever 56.

Figure 6, gas may flow upwardly through the channel 36, into'the recessas, through the channel 53, and then upwardly through the channel 52 ofvalve stem 39 Referring now to Figure l, the actuating member M is inthe form of a lever having a lower end pivotally mounted to the case Hat 53. A spring biases the actuating member is about the pivot point ina clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 1, thereby normallymaintaining the actuating member i i in the position shown in Figure 1.The upper end of the actuating member 14 has secured thereto a pin 55 towhich a valve lifting lever 55 is slidably and pivotally mounted. Thelever -3 is preferably formed of a single intgeral member having ahorizontal portion 51 with a downwardly turned portion bl at one end,the opposite end being bent so as to'form a longitudinal slot 53receiving the pin 55 and a projecting portion The down-turned endportion 5? of the lever 58 engages the-top of the tank 52, as at Gil, soas to form a fulcrum contact therewith. That is, the lever 55 may pivotupwardly or counter-clockwise about the contact point 58. The upper endof the valve stem has affixed thereto an enlarged annular cap 5!providing a shoulder portion 6! The latter is provided with an openingBil (see Figure 5) somewhat larger than the diameter or the cap :5 i. Inthe assembled position shown in Figure l, the lower shoulder surface tiof the cap 6! abuts against the lever 55 adjacent the marginal edge ofthe opening 52. Referring now to Figure 2, it will be seen that when theconnecting member ill is depressed to the left or pivotedcounterwlockwise, the lever lit'will be fulcrumed upwardly orcounter-clockwise about the fulcrum point 8% on the tank l2, therebycausing the lever at to push upwardly against the shoulder portion 52 ofthe cap 6| and thereby move the valve stem 3! upwardly with respect tothe tank [2 so as to cause the valve assembly it to assume the openposition shown in Figure 6.

The outer case It is substantially in the form of a rectangularcontainer open at both the top and bottom. As best seen in Figure 4, apin t3 is mounted at its opposite ends in the spaced parallel side walls5d, 55 of the case ll and extends thcrebotween. A cylindrical sleeve 56is rota' ably mounted on the pin 63 and is provided with an enlargedcylindrical portion 51 abutting against the interior surface of the sidewall 65. A flint wheel 58 is rotatably mounted on the sleeve 65.

The cover, indicated generally at E5 is of substantially U -shape incross section and has a horizontal section 38 formed integral withvertical sections Ell, l i. The latter are suitably apertured so as toreceive the enlarged portion 1%? and the sleeve 65 respectively. Asshown in Figure l, the pin 63, sleeve 58 and flint wheel Eli are mountedat the upper left-hand end of the case it and the cover l5, when in ahorizontal position, extends across the open upper end of the case I iso as to close said end. When the cover it": is pivoted upwardly orcounter-clockwise about the axis of the pin #63 the upper end of thecase H will be exposed so as allow the flame from the valve assembly toproject upwardly therefrom.

A spring 72 is coiled about the sleeve 56 and has one end (not shown)abutting against the case i l and the opposite end l3 abutting againstthe under surface of the horizontal section 59 of the cover it; so as tobias the latter about the axis of the pin %3 in an upward orcounter-clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 1. The spring also abutsagainst the inner surface of the vertical section ii and the right-handface of the flint wheel so as to hold the flint wheel 68 against lateralsliding movement on the sleeve 66. The left-hand face-of the flint wheel58 is provided withconventional ratchet teeth adapted to be engaged by aconventional ratchet pawl Washer 74.

As shown in Figure 1, the right-hand end of the cover I5 has securedthereto a locking means in the form of a downwardly-depending detent orhook T5. The upper end of the actuating member 14 is provided with alocking means in the form of a detent l6 engageable with the detent 15so as to maintain the cover I5 in the normal horizontal closed positionshown in Figure 1. When the actuating member I4 is depressed or pushedinwardly so as to pivot counterclockwise about the pivot point 53, thelocking detent 15 will be disengaged from the detent 15, therebyallowing the spring 73 to pivot the cover to upwardly to the positionshown in Figure 2. The upward or counter-clockwise movement of the coverI5 is stopped when a shoulder portion l5 of the latter abuts against theportion ll of the case I l.

Durin this upward movement of the cover I5 the ratchet pawl washer H5will be rotated counter-clockwise since the Washer 14 i non-rotatablyengaged with the undersurface of the horizontal section of the cover l5.During this counter-clockwise movement of the washer 14, it willdrivingly engage the ratchet teeth of the flint wheel 68 so as to rotatethe latter about the sleeve 66 thereby causing sparks to be emitted fromthe flint ll toward the fuel gas being ejected from the upper dischargeend of the axial channel 52 of the valve stem ill. After the cigarettehas been lit and the actuating member [4 has been released so as toextinguish the flame, the cover I5 is then manually moved by theforefinger back to the horizontal position at which point the lockingdetents l5, '56 will be mutually engaged so as to maintain the cover I 5in the closed position. During this closing movement of the cover 15 theratchet pawl washer M will be rotated in a clockwise direction alongwith the cover 15 but the flint Wheel 58 will not be rotated since thewasher M in this direction of rotation will merely ratchet past theratchet teeth on the wheel 68. The frictional efiect of the spring 72abutting against the right-hand face of the flint wheel 68 also servesto hold the latter against rotation during the closing movement of thecover I5.

The flint I! is resilient pressed against the flint wheel It by means ofa conventional flint spring device 77 mounted within a vertical channel13 formed in the case II. The lower end of the channel 13 is threaded asat 79 to receive the flint screw 89 which abuts against the lower end ofthe flint spring ll, As heretofore described this flint mountingarrangement is conventional.

A tank lock member 85 is rotatably mounted on the flint screw 89 and isprovided with radially extending projections 82, 83. A lug 84 is securedto the exterior surface of the wall 20 of tank l2. When the tank i2 isin proper assembled relation within the case H and the lock member 85 ismanually rotated to a locking position, the lug 85 will be immediatelyabove and in abutting engagement with one of the projections 82, 83 onthe lock member 8! thereby holding the tank l2 within the case I! andprevent- 7 ing accidental removal thereof. When it is necessary toremove the tank I2 for replacing, the lock member 8| is merely rotatedto the unlocking position whereby neither of the projections 82, 83 willbe in engagement with the lug 84 so as to allow the tank I2 to bequickly and easily withdrawn from the bottom of the case I I in themanner shown in Figure 8.

The insertion of the tank I2 into the case II is accomplished with equalfacility. As shown in Figure 3 before the tank I2 is placed within thecase II the lever 55 hangs downwardly from the pin 55 in a positionwhereby the tapered exterior surface of the valve stem cap (it willinitially engage the left-hand marginal edge 62' of the recess 62 as thetank I2 is moved upwardly toward the assembled position. Continuedupward movement of the tank i2 causes the cap 6| to slide or ratchetpast the edge 62' until when the assembled position is reached the valvestem 3I will project upwardly through the opening 62 with the shoulderportion 6| of the cap GI abutting against the lever 55 adjacent theright-hand marginal edge of the openin 62, as shown in Figure l. Thedown-turned end portion 5! of the lever 55 will then be in engagementwith the top of the tank I2 at the fulcrum point 60. The tank lockmember BI is then rotated so as to bring either of the projections 82,83 in engagement with the lower surface of the lug 84 on the tank wall25, thereby rendering the tank I2 locked in assembled relation withinthe case II.

The operation of the lighter will now be briefly summarized. Referringto Figure '7, the lighter I is preferably grasped by the hand in themanner shown with the thumb resting against the actuating member I4. Thethumb then depresses actuating member I4 inwardly so as to pivot itabout the pivot point 53, thereby causing lever 55 to pivot upwardlyabout the fulcrum point 58 on the tank I 2. As shown in Figure 2, thiscauses the lever 56 to press upwardly against the shoulder portion SI ofthe valve stem cap 6|, thereby moving the valve stem 3| upwardly andcausing the valve seat member 2-4 to uncover the upper discharge end ofthe channel 36. This allows the fuel gas within the tank I2, preferablya hydrocarbon such as butane, to flow upwardly through channel 36, intothe recess 35, through the axial opening 52 of the valve stem 3|, andinto the atmosphere at the upper discharge end of the valve stem 3|While the valve assembly I3 has been actuated in the manner describedabove, the depression of the actuating member I4 by the thumb has alsoserved to disengage locking detent I6 from the locking detent 15 on thecover I5, thereby allowing spring 12 to pivot the cover I5 upwardlyabout the axis of the pin 63. During this upward pivotal movement of thecover I5 the ratchet pawl washer I4 will be rotated therewith so as torotate the flint wheel 68 across the top surface of the flint II,thereby directing a shower of sparks toward the fuel gas being emittedfrom the upper discharge end of the valve stem 3|.

The emitted gas is thus ignited so as to produce a, flame projectingupwardly from the upper open end of the case II, as shown in Figure 7.When the cigarette has been ignited and the flame is no longer desired,the operator merely releases the thumb pressure on the actuating memberI4, thereby allowing the spring 54 to pivot the actuating member I4 backto the initial position shown in Figure 1, at which position the 8 valveassembly I3 will be closed as a result of the coil spring 5| moving thevalve stem 3I downwardly so as to seal off the upper end of the channel36. The forefinger of the operator may then be employed to pivot thecover I5 downwardly back to the closed position.

It will be noted that it requires little force to pivot the cover I5back to the closed position in view of the relatively long torque armprovided by the length of the cover. In other words, the energy storedin the spring I2 for actuating the flint wheel 68 is supplied byexerting a relatively small force through a large distance, rather thanexerting a relatively large force through a small distance as is thecase with conventional thumb wheel arrangements for rotating the flintwheel.

The proper timing of the spark emission with respect to the fuel gasemission is automatically assured by the mechanism of the presentinvention and human error is no longer a factor producing waste of fuelgas due to improper timing. It will also be obvious that the use of thesingle actuating member I4 for simultaneously effecting both the sparkemission and the fuel gas emission renders the operation of the lightermore convenient and simple than is the case with conventional gaslighters which require the user to press a gas discharge member with onefinger and a thumb flint wheel with another finger.

The means for restricting the flow of the gas fuel through the channels36 comprising the ball 45, mesh screen 4'! and adjusting screw 42, inaddition to providing the function of increasing the strength and heightof the flame as the gas pressure within the tank I2 is lowered due todischarge of the gas, also serves to vary the flow of gas through thechannel 36 so as to accommodate varying gas pressures within the tank I2due to temperature variations of climate or geography. Furthermore, byadjusting the screw 42, the size of the flame may be varied as desiredto suit the needs of the individual smoker. For example, pipe smokerswould normally require a larger size flame than those who intend to usethe lighter for cigarettes.

It is to be understood that the specific embodiment shown in thedrawings and described above is merely illustrative of one of the manyforms which the invention may take in practice, many variations andmodifications thereof being readily apparent to those skilled in theart. The scope of the invention is delineated in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A cigarette lighter comprising a casing having longitudinal andtransverse side walls, a top plate pivoted at one end and adapted toco-act with igniting means, said top plate being further adapted toclose the top of said casing, an inner rectangular fuel tank detachablyheld within said casing and containing gaseous fuel under pressure, aburner valve disposed in the top of the tank and having a bored plungervalve stem, 9. burner head on said valve, a finger depressible elementdisposed in a side wall and having means to engage the top plate inclosed position, a lever pivotal y secured to the finger element andfulcrumed at its opposite end on said tank, said le er element having acentrally disposed aperture therein for engaging said burner head.

2. A cigarette lighter comprising a casing having longitudinal andtransverse side walls, a top closure plate pivoted at one end andadapted to co-act with igniting means including a flint, said top platebeing further adapted to close the ton or said casing, an inner fueltank having an interiorly disposed plug having a bore hole therein, saidtank being detachably held within said casing and containing gaseousfuel under pressure, a burner valve, including a burner head, disposedin said plug and having a bore stem terminating in an enlarged base,said plug having a passage communicating between said bore and theinterior of the tank, a finger depressable element having closure meansto engage the top plate in closed position, a lever pivotally secured tothe finger element at one end and fulcrumed to said tank at the oppositeend, said lever element having a central aperture therein for engagingsaid burner head, a flint wheel disposed adjacent said burner valve andadapted to engage said flint upon rotation of the closure plate, an axlefor said flint wheel journaled into opposed longitudinal walls of thecasing, a spring disposed about said axle and adapted to rotatably urgethe top plate upward, and closure means on said top cover plate forengaging the closure means of said finger depressible element.

3. A cigarette lighter comprising a casing having longitudinal andtransverse side walls, a top closure plate pivoted at one endand adaptedto co-act with igniting means including a flint, said top plate beingfurther adapted to close the top of said casing, an inner fuel tankhaving an interiorly disposed plug having a bore hole therein, said tankbeing detachably held within said cas ing and containing gaseous fuelunder pressure. a burner valve, including a burner head, disposed insaid plug and having a bore'stem terminating in an enlarged base, saidplughaving a passage communicating between said bore and the inte- 10rior of the tank, a finger depressible element having closure means toengage the top plate in closed position, a lever pivotally secured tothe finger element at one end and fulcrumed to said tank at the oppositeend, said lever element having a central aperture therein for engagingsaid burner head, a flint wheel disposed adjacent said burner valve andadapted to engage said flint upon rotation of the closure plate, an axlefor said flint wheel journaled into opposed longitudinal walls of thecasing, a spring disposed about said axle and adapted to rotatably urgethe top plate upward, closure means on said top cover plate for engagingthe closure means of said finger depressible element, and aratchet-washer disposed on said axle and adapted to engage the flintwheel to eifect counter-clockwise rotation when the top closure plate israised by the action of the spring disposed about the axle.

LAWRENCE T. WARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,667,141 Crowley Apr. 24, 19282,153,432 Reich Apr. 4, 1939 2,197,995 Crowley Apr. 23, 1940 2,276,911Alward Mar. 17, 1942 2,571,435 F'lamm Oct. 16, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTSNumber Country Date 923,219 France Feb. 17, 1947

